{"id":55181,"date":"2020-03-01T08:00:28","date_gmt":"2020-03-01T13:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/?p=55181"},"modified":"2025-03-04T12:58:39","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T17:58:39","slug":"the-last-telecommunicator-has-been-born","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/the-last-telecommunicator-has-been-born\/","title":{"rendered":"The Last Telecommunicator Has Been Born"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><small>Photo courtesy of Tracy H. Shelton, Fairfax County, VA<\/small><\/p>\n<p>Futurists have begun to offer the prospect that the last people to be employed in certain professions have already been born.<sup>1<\/sup> Law enforcement agencies attempting to address skyrocketing employee costs, high attrition rates, and the desire of the community to be included in the ways policing is done create a petri dish for technology to bloom. Add in an accelerator\u2014the need to develop new law enforcement technology with a national or global standard\u2014and the field may be on the cusp of radical change.<sup>2<\/sup> One place almost all of these factors can be realized is in the law enforcement telecommunications center.<\/p>\n<p>Much like a human grows from an infant to a child, to a teen, and then to an adult, so must the technology that will first help and then replace the last human telecommunicator. Police executives must imagine the future so that it can be built. With technology advancing exponentially, perhaps the last police telecommunicator has already been born.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #0071b9;\"><strong>Challenges in the Modern Telecommunications Center<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>One function in a law enforcement agency that is commonly understaffed is the telecommunications call center. Call centers are a critical initial point of contact for the vast majority of the calls for service to which a law enforcement agency responds. Each call must be handled individually, and the caller must be given the needed attention and respect to set the tone for later contact by the field units. To address calls properly, there needs to be staff to help, and staff must be provided with the time to listen to callers and not hastily move on to the next call.<\/p>\n<p>The constant bombardment of calls for service leads to high levels of stress in telecommunicators, which, if not managed properly, leads to burnout. The emotional exhaustion experienced in burnout can lead to increased stress and irritation, which can be transferred to the person calling for help.<sup>3<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>While telecommunication call centers have increased their capacity and efficiency through the use of computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems and automated message lines, many are the last to see increases in staff. For example, in Frederick County, Maryland, telecommunication staffing had not increased at the same rate as the call volume had. Inadequate staffing levels forced employees to work overtime to cover shifts and increased employees\u2019 stress. The increase in stress and the drain on employee morale and efficiency resulted in a push for staffing to increase; yet, only half as many as needed were hired due to a shortfall in funding.<sup>4<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>Funding for staffing will continue to be problematic as economists predict a possible financial crisis and recession are looming.<sup>5<\/sup> As a result, police agencies will likely need to cut costs and eliminate services provided. Prior fiscal emergencies have shown that attrition in employees occurs in the forms of layoffs, early retirements, or employees leaving the industry.<sup>6<\/sup> Positions in dispatch centers are not immune to this.<sup>7<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>Losing knowledgeable employees and staffing centers with employees who have low morale and enthusiasm can affect the quality of service provided over the phone. The California Partnership for Safe Communities (CPSC) offers that the development of procedurally just protocols in functions,<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>that involve interacting with numerous residents would leverage the opportunity these functions have to shape the community\u2019s opinion of the police. Changes would include modifying the protocol that personnel in those functions follow to reflect greater respect listening, fair decision-making and trust or goodwill toward residents.<\/em><sup>8<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>Although the focus of CPSC\u2019s work is on the ways the police interact with their communities in the field, many members of the public have their first interaction with dispatchers prior to an officer arriving. These procedurally just protocols are now being taught to humans, but technology has advanced to a point where they can also be taught to machines.<\/p>\n<p>Using interactive voice response technologies, those who contact the police can have their problems addressed in a neutral and responsive manner by technology platforms designed for that purpose. Eliminating the human from the process may sound odd, but it reduces unwanted \u201cvariance\u201d in competence while also addressing some of the core concerns of the President\u2019s Task Force on 21st Century Policing.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #0071b9;\"><strong>Interactive Voice Response as a Solution to a Challenge and Mandate<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Technology may be a way to provide the needed interaction with callers that mitigates the challenge of effective community policing in the future. In its report, the President\u2019s Task Force on 21st Century Policing called on the National Institute of Justice to set standards for the research and development of new technology. Local development of interactive voice response (IVR) technology for which results are collected and collaborated with governmental, community-based, and professional associations is key to fulfilling that recommendation.<sup>9<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>Research into how technology facilitates the automation of dispatch functions in ways consistent with the President\u2019s Task Force\u2019s recommendation needs to occur. According to one software provider, the automation of the question selection process during initial call-taking can lead to the quicker collection of accurate call information with a less anxious experience for the employee. The article also notes that such dispatch assistance technology can diminish the stress on telecommunicators by providing real-time guidance on what questions to ask callers during emergencies.<sup>10<\/sup> A natural extension of automated question selection is the use of IVR systems that can determine what the caller truly needs and ask questions directed to that need to lessen caller frustration and increase trust in the police.<\/p>\n<p>In 1999, futurist Ray Kurzweil forecast that, by 2019, computers would be \u201clargely invisible\u201d and \u201cembedded everywhere.\u201d Kurzweil also claimed that machines would begin passing the \u201cTuring Test,\u201d which is used to determine whether machines can think and whether their \u201cthinking\u201d is indistinguishable from human intelligence, a point that has recently been crossed.<sup>11<\/sup> Many of Kurzweil\u2019s predictions have not come to fruition, but the technological singularity is still inching toward becoming a reality. An emerging solution that could create the technological infrastructure to automate dispatch could be IVR. Current IVR technology uses telephone touch-tone and voice input to give the caller access to information through a series of menus and options. Many law enforcement agencies already deploy this technology in their non-emergency calls for service.<\/p>\n<p>A quick Internet search will provide numerous listings of vendors selling IVR technologies; all still provide the basic phone tree model that pulls information from a database determined by a prompt or response from the caller. Although implementing this could be the first step to virtualize and automate a law enforcement call center, work on the technology is needed to identify sounds and words in the background, as well as to vary its questions if faced with non-responses or non-answers to questions. For example, voice response systems are used in daily life by persons who use Google Assistant, Alexa, or Siri or call their bank or health care provider for assistance. These applications are examples of how IVR technology currently supports humans, but only when provided with specific directions. IVR technology is evolving, though, and through that evolution, telecommunication centers may soon be able to eliminate human error and poor performance in call handling. For example, in August 2019, a 911 dispatcher who had recently submitted her letter of resignation spoke to a stranded caller in a rude tone and made unprofessional remarks. The caller had stranded her vehicle in a flood and told the dispatcher she was afraid to die. The caller was found an hour later, drowned, after being repeatedly mocked by the dispatcher for being scared and for getting stuck in the flood.<sup>12<\/sup> In 2018, a Houston, Texas, dispatcher was sentenced to jail time and probation for hanging up on thousands of callers, including victims of armed robberies, police officers, and community members she did not feel like talking to. The dispatcher was quoted as saying in a call recording, \u201cAin\u2019t nobody got time for this.\u201d<sup>13<\/sup> If IVR was programmed properly, these tragedies would not occur. An IVR application could keep a neutral tone with a caller, not get agitated, and stay on the call for as long as it took for officers to find the caller, something current telecommunications staffing cannot always accommodate.<\/p>\n<p>Purposeful actions are not the only items impacting service. In Nashville, Tennessee, a resident\u2019s burglary alarm call was mishandled by the telecommunicator who allowed the call to slip, and the response came five hours later. The resident assumed the police had responded and had left after not finding a problem. In his comments to the local news, the resident wondered what would have happened if he had been shot and left to bleed.<sup>14<\/sup> Implementing artificially intelligent IVR into police dispatch may provide a layer of protection against purposeful actions and mistakes made by human telecommunicators. It can provide a ready response to any initial call for service into police telecommunication centers.<\/p>\n<p>Other amazing artificial intelligence technologies are being refined today that soon could eliminate many jobs, resulting in performance that will probably be faster and more accurate, and improve interaction with the public. An example of the dematerialization and virtualization of human jobs is happening in Shanghai, China. The Jiujiang Road Branch of the China Construction Bank almost entirely services customers through robots, machines, and facial recognition applications with a virtual reality room and video link to allow for off-site human interaction when needed.<sup>15<\/sup> In Dubai, United Arab Emirates, robot officers are being deployed in the field to assist people in reporting crimes and providing information. Dubai Police expect that a quarter of their police staffing in Dubai will be machine-based within 11 years.<sup>16<\/sup> These examples show how governments, business executives, and customers are willing to accept the virtualization of jobs historically staffed by humans and to use the services provided. The examples also show how both the private and public sectors in some countries are making strides to multiply their customer service capacity by using interactive technologies.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #0071b9;\"><strong>The Future Is Being Envisioned for Us<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Fortunately for those with limited imagination, the future is being envisioned for us. Examples of futuristic and intuitively interactive voice response systems can be found in popular media and private software developers. In Dan Brown\u2019s novel\u00a0<em>Origin<\/em>, a wealthy scientist creates an artificially intelligent application that converses in real-time in different languages with hundreds of people at an event.<sup>17<\/sup> In the popular\u00a0<em>Avengers<\/em>\u00a0movie series, \u201cJarvis\u201d is an IVR system that can think and adjust to stimulus. In the film, Jarvis provides calculations, analysis, and responses to conversation. Jarvis ultimately sacrifices itself to prevent harm by another self-aware IVR application.<sup>18<\/sup> A nonfiction example of IVR technology is the Google Duplex project. Google Duplex is an IVR application that is designed to complete tasks over the phone through a conversation without its main user, the device owner, needing to monitor the call.<sup>19<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>There are some concerns in IVR application for law enforcement telecommunications. The author gathered separate panels consisting of technology executives, public safety managers, and community members in March and July 2019 to discuss trends in technology, police telecommunications centers, the community, and the use of IVR in police dispatch.<sup>20<\/sup> The panelists offered several observations on usership:<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.2in;\"><span style=\"color: #0071b9;\">\u25a0<\/span> It was believed that certain sections of the community would not want to call police departments and speak to a computer.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.2in;\"><span style=\"color: #0071b9;\">\u25a0<\/span> The group conceded there was a common belief that older generations either fear or dislike technology and that would directly impact the implementation and use of IVR technology.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.2in;\"><span style=\"color: #0071b9;\">\u25a0<\/span> In contrast, the future user base would likely come from millennials and Generation Z communities, who have always known a world with interactive technology and support and who would likely support the use of IVR by the police.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.2in;\"><span style=\"color: #0071b9;\">\u25a0<\/span> In an increasingly diverse country, non-English speaking communities might be adversely impacted if IVR technology did not immediately recognize multi-language needs.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the panels also provided a series of possible limitations and challenges in acceptance and perception of an IVR system.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.2in;\"><span style=\"color: #0071b9;\">\u25a0<\/span>\u00a0 IVR system failure via virus infection, non-operation, or erroneous translation<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.2in;\"><span style=\"color: #0071b9;\">\u25a0<\/span>\u00a0 Unknown implementation and recurring maintenance costs<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.2in;\"><span style=\"color: #0071b9;\">\u25a0<\/span>\u00a0 Capability of an IVR application do portray realistic empathy as a human telecommunicator could without sounding robotic or condescending<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.2in;\"><span style=\"color: #0071b9;\">\u25a0<\/span>\u00a0 The current lack of available machine learning technology needed for determining languages and dialects needing to be translated in real time<\/p>\n<p>These challenges should not be ignored; rather, they need to be embraced by those groups collaborating to create and implement IVR technology so as to drive improvement of the technology and conceive methods for overcoming these potential obstacles. Law enforcement telecommunications centers are the hub for handling all types of chaos in the community, so all segments of the community must be involved collaboratively in the initial design and implementation. Although law enforcement and community members would be the main users of the application, there is a definite need for persons in the technology industry, communications and linguistics community, and academics to be involved in the design, user education, and implementation of IVR technology in the law enforcement setting. Collaboration at the local and national levels for a technological advancement such as IVR is strongly needed.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #0071b9;\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<table class=\" alignright\" style=\"width: 50%; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #102c4e; border-style: none;\" cellspacing=\"7\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 100%;\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\"><strong><big>IACP Resources<\/big><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.2in;\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">\u25a0\u00a0 \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/the-cyber-beat-partner\/\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">The Cyber Beat Partner: Harnessing the Power of AI in Law Enforcement<\/span><\/a>\u201d (article)<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.2in;\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">\u25a0\u00a0 \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/public-safety-virtual-assistants-for-firstnet\/\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Technology Talk: Public Safety Virtual Assistants for FirstNet<\/span><\/a>\u201d (article)<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.2in;\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">\u25a0\u00a0 \u201c<a style=\"color: #ffffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/ai-community-police-relations\/\">Artificial Intelligence and Community-Police Relations<\/a>\u201d (article)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Law enforcement executives and managers need to envision a future where calls into call centers are almost immediately triaged, prioritized, and given the needed level of services with enhanced efficiency. This will undoubtedly be more efficient with the implementation of IVR telecommunication centers that speak in real-time in various languages and dialects to numerous callers simultaneously. Executives must also remain vigilant and provide the time needed for projects to unfold. If the IVR for law enforcement is rushed or poorly implemented, there will be a risk of losing the industry support and the user base for which the service is intended.<\/p>\n<p>Using IVR technology to augment and eventually supplant the human telecommunicator is a future reality that is foreseeable today. As with any technology, law enforcement leaders must practice caution to ensure it\u2019s fiscally sustainable, it interfaces smoothly with the community and staff alike, and it\u2019s designed and implemented in a manner that allows the community to have a voice in the process. Implementing IVR through collaborative design of an engaging, meaningful contact with the caller that ends in a feeling of the appropriate services being rendered on non-emergency calls could provide the avenue to develop and use IVR in emergency calls in the future.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Notes:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><sup>1<\/sup> Dan Shewan, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2017\/jan\/11\/robots-jobs-employees-artificial-intelligence\">Robots Will Destroy Our Jobs \u2013 And We\u2019re Not Ready for It<\/a>,\u201d <em>Guardian<\/em>, January 11, 2017.<\/p>\n<p><sup>2<\/sup> President\u2019s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/the-last-telecommunicator-has-been-born\/\"><em>Final Report of the President\u2019s Task Force on 21st Century Policing<\/em><\/a> (Washington, DC: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, 2015).<\/p>\n<p><sup>3<\/sup> Tod Burke, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/leb.fbi.gov\/file-repository\/archives\/october-1995.pdf\/view\">Dispatcher Stress<\/a>,\u201d <em>FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin<\/em> 64, no. 10 (October 1995): 1\u20136.<\/p>\n<p><sup>4<\/sup> Jeremy Arias, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/911-operator-staffing-shortage-dispatcher-survey-6dd0085c73bdee66d5a5d2795122cb97\">Emergency Call-Takers, Dispatchers Overcome Staffing Challenges, Stressful Work<\/a>,\u201d <em>Frederick News-Post,<\/em> June 2, 2018,<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><sup>5<\/sup> Jen Wieczner et al., \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/longform\/next-recession-by-the-numbers\/\">5 Numbers to Watch to Spot the Next Recession<\/a>,\u201d<em> Fortune<\/em>, April 24, 2019.<\/p>\n<p><sup>6<\/sup> John Rudolf, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/entry\/stockton-bankruptcy-police-crime_n_1826100\">Stockton Bankruptcy May Force \u2018Mass Exodus\u2019 of Police during Crime Wave<\/a>,\u201d <em>HuffPost <\/em>August 23, 2012.<\/p>\n<p><sup>7<\/sup> Arias, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/911-operator-staffing-shortage-dispatcher-survey-6dd0085c73bdee66d5a5d2795122cb97\">Emergency Call-Takers<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><sup>8<\/sup> Daniela Gilbert, Stewart Wakelink, and Vaughn Crandall, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bja.gov\/bwc\/pdfs\/Procedural-Justice-and-Police-Legitimacy-Paper-CPSC-Feb-2015.pdf\"><em>Procedural Justice and Police Legitimacy: Using Training as a Foundation for Strengthening Community-Police Relationships<\/em><\/a>, ed. Julia Reynolds (Washington, DC: California Partnerships for Safe Communities, 2015).<\/p>\n<p><sup>9<\/sup> President\u2019s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/the-last-telecommunicator-has-been-born\/\"><em>Final Report of the President\u2019s Task Force on 21st Century Policing<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><sup>10<\/sup> \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20240229091053\/https:\/\/www.police1.com\/priority-dispatch-corp-\">How Priority Dispatch Software Reduced Call Taker Anxiety, Improved 9-1-1 Service in Prince George\u2019s County<\/a>,\u201d PoliceOne.com, July 22, 2015.<\/p>\n<p><sup>11<\/sup> Ray Kurzweil, <em>The Age of Spiritual Machines <\/em>(London, England: Penguin Books, 1999).<\/p>\n<p><sup>12<\/sup> Nicole Acevedo, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/911-dispatcher-scolds-caller-stranded-floodwaters-shortly-she-drowns-n1048621\">911 Dispatcher Scolds Caller Stranded in Floodwaters Shortly before She Drowns<\/a>,\u201d NBC News, August 31, 2019.<\/p>\n<p><sup>13<\/sup> Cleve R. Wootson Jr., \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/post-nation\/wp\/2018\/04\/19\/911-dispatcher-jailed-houston-woman-hung-up-on-thousands-of-callers\/\">\u2018Ain\u2019t Nobody Got Time for This\u2019: 911 Dispatcher Sentenced to Jail after Hanging Up on Thousands of Callers<\/a>,\u201d <em>Washington Post<\/em>, April 19, 2018.<\/p>\n<p><sup>14<\/sup> Lindsay Bramson, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsmv.com\/news\/dispatcher-makes-mistake-homeowner-waits-hours-for-police\/article_5715d312-4e8f-568d-93a1-8c9f75ffeb9d.html\">911 Dispatcher Makes Mistake; Homeowner Waits 5 Hours for Police<\/a>,\u201d News4 Nashville, July 19, 2017.<\/p>\n<p><sup>15<\/sup> Helen Roxburgh, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/cities\/2018\/may\/14\/shanghai-robot-bank-china-worlds-first-human-free-branch-construction\">Inside Shanghai\u2019s Robot Bank: China Opens World\u2019s First Human-Free Branch<\/a>,\u201d <em>Guardian,<\/em> May 14, 2018.<\/p>\n<p><sup>16<\/sup> Babar Khan Javed, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cio.com\/article\/3434622\/robotics-in-saudi-arabia-how-robotics-are-being-embraced-by-major-gov-led-organisations.html\">Robotics in the Middle East: Gov-Led Agencies, Enterprises Embrace Robotics<\/a>,\u201d <em>CIO<\/em>, September 1, 2019.<\/p>\n<p><sup>17<\/sup> Dan Brown, <em>Origin<\/em> (New York, NY: Doubleday, 2017).<\/p>\n<p><sup>18<\/sup> <em>Avengers: Age of Ultron<\/em>, directed by Joss Whedon (Marvel Studios, Walt Disney Pictures, 2015).<\/p>\n<p><sup>19<\/sup> Yaniv Leviathan and Yossi Matias, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/ai.googleblog.com\/2018\/05\/duplex-ai-system-for-natural-conversation.html\">Google Duplex: An AI System for Accomplishing Real-World Tasks Over the Phone<\/a>,\u201d <em>Google AI Blog<\/em>, May 8, 2018.<\/p>\n<p><sup>20<\/sup> Antonio Sajor Jr., \u201cCommand College Brainwriting Panel\u201d (discussion panel, Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, Stockton, CA, March and July 2019).<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Please cite as<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Antonio Sajor Jr., \u201cThe Last Telecommunicator Has Been Born,\u201d\u00a0<em>Police Chief<\/em> 87, no. 3 (March 2020): 52\u201355.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Futurists have begun to offer the prospect that the last people to be employed in certain professions have already been born. Law enforcement agencies attempting to address skyrocketing employee costs, high attrition rates, and the desire of the community to be included in the ways policing is done create a petri dish for technology to bloom. Add in an accelerator\u2014the need to develop new law enforcement technology with a national or global standard\u2014and the field may be on the cusp of radical change. One place almost all of these factors can be realized is in the law enforcement telecommunications center.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":55182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[146],"tags":[1394,1395,1396,301,1393],"class_list":["post-55181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-interactive-voice-response","tag-ivr","tag-robot","tag-technology","tag-telecommunicator"],"acf":{"post_author":"Antonio Sajor Jr., Captain, Stockton Police Department, California","main_category":"Technology","legacy_article_id":"","legacy_issue_id":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.4 (Yoast SEO v24.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Last Telecommunicator Has Been Born - Police Chief Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.policechiefmagazine.org\/the-last-telecommunicator-has-been-born\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Last Telecommunicator Has Been Born\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Futurists have begun to offer the prospect that the last people to be employed in certain professions have already been born. Law enforcement agencies attempting to address skyrocketing employee costs, high attrition rates, and the desire of the community to be included in the ways policing is done create a petri dish for technology to bloom. Add in an accelerator\u2014the need to develop new law enforcement technology with a national or global standard\u2014and the field may be on the cusp of radical change. 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